3. Please explain and provide evidence of how you demonstrate that you understand and analyze the contextual variables that affect teaching and learning.
The dimensions that affect the ability of students to learn are highly variable and individual. For this reason I have embraced the concept of universal design in the large majority of lessons I give. The idea here is that by providing all students with the accommodations required by some students, and attending to multiple learning styles simultaneously, all students benefit.
Aspects that are considered regularly:
- Hearing problems & Auditory learners
I always make sure to speak clearly and project my voice while lecturing. I have never had a student complain that they could not hear.
- Vision Problems & Visual Learners
I have one student who has vision problems associated with Turner's Syndrome. Though my presentations include minimal text, the text they do include is presented in easy to read, large font.
- Authentic Learning
Students in science class take part in discovery and open ended activities. In foods, students are expected to cook once or twice per week.
- Kinesthetic Learners
Hands on activities are a regular part of class. Students regularly engage in experimentation, small skits and other tasks involving drawing or presenting to their peers.
- Practice
Tasks involving calculation or analysis have no substitute for practicing the material. To this end, students are often given 1/3 to 1/2 of their class time to practice these skills. Daily homework is also assigned with this in mind.
- Student Anxiety
Many students experience anxiety during presentations and more often during tests. As presenters students are provided with a caring environment in which mistakes are regarded as learning experiences rather than failures. During tests students are able to write in alternative settings or at different times in order to accommodate readiness and anxiety. They are also taught to use simple anxiety reducing techniques such as putting a small green circle at the top of their test paper on which they can concentrate during a test time out (this is not a trick but a psychologically proven technique). Students have also been advised that they can close their eyes and use prayer as a method of reducing anxiety (especially useful for those students with whom faith plays a leading role in their lives).
Aspects that are considered regularly:
- Hearing problems & Auditory learners
I always make sure to speak clearly and project my voice while lecturing. I have never had a student complain that they could not hear.
- Vision Problems & Visual Learners
I have one student who has vision problems associated with Turner's Syndrome. Though my presentations include minimal text, the text they do include is presented in easy to read, large font.
- Authentic Learning
Students in science class take part in discovery and open ended activities. In foods, students are expected to cook once or twice per week.
- Kinesthetic Learners
Hands on activities are a regular part of class. Students regularly engage in experimentation, small skits and other tasks involving drawing or presenting to their peers.
- Practice
Tasks involving calculation or analysis have no substitute for practicing the material. To this end, students are often given 1/3 to 1/2 of their class time to practice these skills. Daily homework is also assigned with this in mind.
- Student Anxiety
Many students experience anxiety during presentations and more often during tests. As presenters students are provided with a caring environment in which mistakes are regarded as learning experiences rather than failures. During tests students are able to write in alternative settings or at different times in order to accommodate readiness and anxiety. They are also taught to use simple anxiety reducing techniques such as putting a small green circle at the top of their test paper on which they can concentrate during a test time out (this is not a trick but a psychologically proven technique). Students have also been advised that they can close their eyes and use prayer as a method of reducing anxiety (especially useful for those students with whom faith plays a leading role in their lives).
Chemistry
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Physics
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